Future

Artist Statement

The future of the pandemic seems so unclear, and personally, I don’t feel as if I can see much predictability in that future. There’s a lot of information being shared about potential solutions or precautions for the future, but I find myself focused on a more hopeful and unsure approach. Rather than thinking about what the future of this will be, I usually find myself thinking about what I hope will happen, eventually. So I decided to portray that in the image, having my sister take the photo with me. I set the camera up on a nearby table and opened the sliding door to show the super nice spring weather outside as well as all the empty chairs (usually, we would have people gather at our house a lot during the nice weather, and have cookouts with the rest of the neighborhood). I had my sister and I hold hands and tried to position that in the center to gain some sort of formal balance in the image. The lighting ended up working out pretty well, and provided some contrast in the image.

When I moved the image into Photoshop, I first decided to use the burn and dodge tools to emphasize certain highlights and shadows of the image. This was used mostly on our clothing, my sister’s bracelet, and the chairs in the background. I also applied the diffuse glow filter to further emphasize the brightness of the setting. However, when I moved it into Photos, my editing started to focus more on the meaning of the image. The image was very lighthearted and colorful, but I ended up putting it in black and white because it’s a hopeful situation that seems far away right now, not like the reality. I also added a vignette effect that conflicted with the bright lighting of the image. I increased the shadows a little after that.

The image is meant to reflect my hopes for what will eventually happen. I hope that everyone can be together again comfortably and safely sometime soon, but I also know that it might take a long time for that to happen. The fear and isolation that the pandemic has brought has made me wonder about when that future will arrive. We all feel comfortable around our friends and loved ones, but the danger or fear of the virus has added a barrier that isn’t easily controlled. Personally I’m very fearful of the virus and all I wish for in the future is for its impact to vanish, so we can all go back to being comfortable being around one another without danger or judgement. However, the image being in black and white represents that it could take longer than most of us will like. Despite that disappointing reality, I wanted the photo to also have a hopeful subject, representing how I know we will all be with each other again eventually, even if we have to be strong first.